Bus shelters being replaced... Why?

[B.C Driver]

Over the last few weeks Centro seems to be replacing the dark blue bus shelters with new silver coloured ones.
This has been happening along the Bristol and Pershore Rd at night times (and probably other areas too), resulting in half of the road being coned off and tempory traffic lights, often causing tailbacks.
Im just wandering why the need to change what appears to be perfectly good bus shelters and at what cost. Unless there's some genuine reason, this seems like a waste of time, money and labour.

[Sh4318]

Isn't all relevant to the 'Connected City' project

[Kevin]

Are they the same ones as in the city centre? ie. nowhere to really sit and you get battered by the elements?

[nitromatt1]

You'd have to have a backside the size of an apple to sit down on the "seats" at these new bus stops. The only upside are the digital displays, but even then, what was so difficult about looking at the paper timetable for the next bus due...

[Bob]

Awful crap shelters and a waste of taxpayers money at a time when budgets are cut! Theyd be better providing public toilets on and along busy bus routes because Birmingham City Council obviously dont regard them as a necessary service! Considering theyve bloody shut every single one! On that subject has anyone seen the state of the ones at Dudley bus station???? Centro & dudley Mbc should be ashamed theyre disgusting!!!!

[Gareth]

The new so called 'shelters' in the City Centre, are without doubt the worst thing that Centro have ever done.

I do like the posts though, just a shame only about 5 have digital information.

[D10]

The new so called 'shelters' in the City Centre, are without doubt the worst thing that Centro have ever done.

I do like the posts though, just a shame only about 5 have digital information.

Could not agree more about those pathetic excuses for "shelters". Luckily the silver shelters down Digbeth and Smallbrook Queensway seem to be more substanstial, so maybe the message has finally got through...

[Stu]

Isn't all relevant to the 'Connected City' project

It's part of the Smart Network project.

http://www.mynetwork.org.uk/Birmingham.aspx

The Bristol Road and Pershore Road are the 'South Birmingham Technology Corridor', the shelters on these key routes are being upgraded with better information systems for passengers.

[Gareth]

The new so called 'shelters' in the City Centre, are without doubt the worst thing that Centro have ever done.

I do like the posts though, just a shame only about 5 have digital information.

Could not agree more about those pathetic excuses for "shelters". Luckily the silver shelters down Digbeth and Smallbrook Queensway seem to be more substanstial, so maybe the message has finally got through...

The ones on Smallbrook Queensway are the old ones repainted. However last time I was going that way, they were being removed. Probably to be replaced with those awful new ones.

[Kevin_Brum12]

It's part of the Smart Network project.

http://www.mynetwork.org.uk/Birmingham.aspx

The Bristol Road and Pershore Road are the 'South Birmingham Technology Corridor', the shelters on these key routes are being upgraded with better information systems for passengers.

So why are perfectly good bus shelters being ripped out then?

The displays on the silver ones are identical to those used on other RTI routes which have the "blue" shelters (e.g. the 50) and the technical equipment would be the same.  I'm struggling to work out how it can be cheaper to remove a shelter which is not life expired and replace it, rather than retro-fit it with the new information equipment.

When Centro need to save money and make better use of the resources it has, decisions like this seem illogical.   No doubt they will not go down well with the communities that could lose their evening or Sunday bus services, or where there have been requests made for bus shelters for years with it sitting on the Centro waiting list.

[B.C Driver]

I know the ones in the City Centre you're refering to Gareth, they're diobolical. I think they need to concentrate on the word 'SHELTER' ie to shelter you from the rain, and they should also shelter you from the wind.

The ones along the Bristol and Pershore Rds are a bit better than the City Centre ones, but dont look as solid as the dark blue ones.

[Kevin_Brum12]

The new so called 'shelters' in the City Centre, are without doubt the worst thing that Centro have ever done.

I do like the posts though, just a shame only about 5 have digital information.

The shelters are appalling and it is hardly a good advert for bus travel to get soaked on your way home from work because there is next to no shelter.   The windswept hill by the old Argos in Priory Queensway being a case in point.

Of course if a few senior Centro luminaries like Geoff Inskip (salary £155,000 a year) were made to travel around by bus and sample the new city centre shelters they've wasted council-tax payers money on we may see some changes.

[Discodave]

And that is where my 2% council tax rise is going to replace good shelters with crap agree I know a lot of places shelters have been needed for years.  Centro have a lot to answer for another tax payer funded orgination we have little or no say in how they spend the money WE PROVIDE AS WM AREA TAX PAYERS.

[Liberator9]

A load of shelters have been placed by Stourbridge Junction station, when you're coming in from B'ham direction. There's just a load of blue shelters in a compound by the car park extension. Seems a waste just to have them sitting there. Solihull could do with one or two more shelters in the centre as one of the stops, where the 5 and S2/S3 have been moved to, are just too small.

[Dylan4579]

Isn't all relevant to the 'Connected City' project

It's part of the Smart Network project.

http://www.mynetwork.org.uk/Birmingham.aspx

The Bristol Road and Pershore Road are the 'South Birmingham Technology Corridor', the shelters on these key routes are being upgraded with better information systems for passengers.

Why don't they just do what they did with the 11 shelters? They're still the blue one but have still got live timings, and besides they're  still green shelters in a lot of places >:( >:(